IN HOC SIGNO VINCES

Over 17 IS militants killed, 5 civilians wounded in coalition shelling in Anbar

Anbar – More than seventeen Islamic State members were killed, while other civilians were wounded in airstrikes in western Anbar, a security source said.

“U.S.-led Coalition jets bombarded on Sunday IS locations in Qaim, Annah and Rawa, west of Anbar. Seventeen IS members, including leader, Mohamed Abboud Abd Manaf, were killed in Wadi al-Kasr region, located between Annah and Rawa. IS member in charge of the group’s prisons in Qaim, known as Farhan Rafiq Eteiwy, was also killed,” the source told Alghad Press on Sunday.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the source added, “the shelling left five civilians wounded, with two of them in serious condition. Moreover, a group’s weapon stash was destroyed.”

On Friday, Coalition jets reportedly bombarded three booby-trapped vehicles in several regions in Annah, killing several militants. Late August, the Defense Ministry’s War Media Cell said the air force bombarded six IS locations in Qaim, killing 94 members, including a senior security commander and a close aide to the group’s supreme leader abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Anbar’s western towns of Anah, Qaim and Rawa are still held by the extremist group since 2014, when it occupied one third of Iraq to proclaim a self-styled Islamic Caliphate. Iraqi troops were able to return life back to normal in the biggest cities of Anbar including Fallujah, Ramadi and others after recapturing them.

Fighter jets from the Iraqi army and the international coalition regularly pound IS locations in the province.